AIR Chapter 199 The Dark Delver Part 1

The ship was alive. 

Well, alive was a word but not an accurate description. 

The ship was an automaton, a sort of living being not capable of cultivation. It wasn’t alive in the sense that a human or a beast was. They had no true soul. 

Rather they swapped out their parts over the eons, changing the parts of them they had outgrown and inputting an entirely new part all together. 

They were a mimicry of life. They lived like we did, acted like we did and even had free will like we did, except they were entirely different at their base components. This was by definition, an eldritch creature. 

The main difference between the primordial species and them was their inability to grow naturally. They had to change parts and forge new parts to get to where they were. 

The first automaton had been made by a craftsman God-Imperium, some said Hephaestus, others said Vishwakarman, no one knows. But the point was that it was made and what it lacked in natural growth it had in unbridled horizontal growth. 

While it couldn’t raise its ranks, it could raise its numbers. It never tired or fell to mortal follies and all the things mortals and immortals took eons to master, like dao and desire, simply didn’t matter to it.

Even now, the ship churned with metallic thought. It was a fusion of reason and desire. An amalgamation of laws and logics, much like an array. 

“I’ve never seen such a large automaton, Senior. Is it safe?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“It must have the qi of at least seven fifteenth ranks alone.”

“More,” I replied.

That was the strong point of automatons. They could create and hold vast amounts of qi. They had no steps within their ranks. 

They were the conceptual ancestors of robots in a way. Able to recreate exponentially without the limits of natural life. These things could be made at almost any rank and they would be intelligent and capable the moment of their birth. They could make others and manufacture themselves if they had the means. 

But that’s where it got complicated. They didn’t have the means. You could build a robot out of metal and wires, but an immortal robot? An automaton with a grand understanding of laws and the fabric of existence, that took different parts. Plane old metal and minerals wouldn’t let you code that in. You needed parts made out of spirit stones or metal that had been soaked in a law for eons. You needed the bones of those a rank above you or a Jade piece that could hold techniques beyond your realm. 

We could just cultivate, they couldn’t. 

Though they were one of the few species who could take down beings a rank above them, though at the level of the Dark Delver, that was almost impossible, if not flat out impossible. The division between the ranks grew in size and ability with each rank. The difference between the sixteenth rank and a fifteenth rank was larger than the difference between a mortal and a fifteenth rank, or so I heard. 

But that statement held true in my experience. 

I doubt the Dark Delver could even scratch a sixteenth rank being, much less defeat it. 

But it would do well against fifteenth ranks. 

We approached the lower end of the ship and scuttled to the smaller corners like rats hiding from the shadows. 

There was an opening meant for us, large relative to our size but small compared to the people on the ship. The fifteenth ranks entered from elsewhere, as did most of their cargo.

Eldritch screams shouted out from the inside of the ship, mostly muffled, but loud enough to cause us to stop for a moment. 

“Senior, are you sure this is safe?”

I nodded. 

The cargo was eldritch creatures, all evil, all chaotic. This ship would be passing by close to the Golden Lands and heavy handed slavery and trafficking wouldn’t be accepted there. And it was too big to go anywhere without getting noticed, so it had to keep itself morally clean. 

Well, I needed to double check the route, but I would assume that’s what it was doing. 

We walked up to the entrance and saw a small automaton with a host of others talking to people before allowing them entry. 

These were the attendants of the greater beings. There were ten fifteenth ranks on that ship, including the ship itself so it was right to expect that each being had followers. They weren’t necessary, they weren’t even useful to the fifteenth ranks. Not as servants, not as decoration. 

Their main purpose was to meet with us lesser beings, a mouse to greet the mice. That and train underneath their masters until they could become useful in their own right. But most of them wouldn’t, some might, few would, but a sect was ultimately, a gamble. 

Those who were truly strong didn’t need to rely on others, others needed to rely on them. And hopefully, when your disciple catches up to you in power and ability, you could look to them to be truly useful. 

We waited in line, watching the people ahead of us as we did so. All of them received a jade piece filled with the route information, possible drop-offs and cargo trades, taxes for merchants of the lesser rank who wanted to move things on the ship and much much more. 

“Why do they not just give everybody the information?” Wang Hou asked. “Like the Rider did with us?”

“They’re scanning us, I think. The Rider is personally checking the beings he allows to come with him. The fifteenth ranked beings of this ship are not checking up on beings below them here. Their disciples are responsible for allowing entry or denying it, and they want to make sure they make a choice that won’t get them in trouble.”

“Truly Senior?” Wang Hou asked. 

I nodded. 

“Its about practice and acquiring resources. A sect ruled by fifteenth ranks has nothing to gain by allowing us safe passage. No money or taxes they take from lesser beings could ever be worth their time, so the ones who do gain from this are their disciples and those below them.”

“I see,” Wang Hou breathed. “Then what did that Rider have to gain?”

“Nothing,” I replied. “But there are other reasons. A lot of benevolent seniors allow people to follow them out of kindness or pity.”

I gave him a look with that statement, and he smacked his belly and laughed. 

“Excuse my boldness Senior, but a righteous man such as yourself would not hurt me for no reason.”

“I could be using the Dao of Deception,”

“But you are not,” Wang Hou replied. 

The line moved up and I moved up along with it. 

“But you are not, Senior! Right? You are a follower of the Tome? The Tome does not allow lies!”

“The Dao of Deception comes in many forms, Junior. Are stories not lies? Does the Tome not list all the stories of existence, real or fiction?”

“But-- but you said you’re a righteous cultivator Senior.”

“I never said that. And even if I did, I could be lying,” I said with a shake of my head. 

The line moved up. 

Fatty Wang stayed behind for a few seconds before moving along with me. 

“Senior, you are making this Junior skinny with worry! Please be honest!”

AN: Sorry for the late chapters. I'll post one more, but work has been tiring. On another note, the next chapter will be chapter 200. Either way I'll try to get to 204 by the end of the week!